Zeboyd Games

Zeboyd Games is a developer of 8-bit and 16-bit-style 2D role-playing games that was created by Robert Boyd with William Stiernberg. It is most known for its two 2D role-playing games, Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World. Most recently, they've developed and released the third and fourth installments of the Penny Arcade Adventures series, as well as the science fiction RPG Cosmic Star Heroine.^[1]

Interactive Novels

Epiphany in Spaaace!

Epiphany In Spaaace! is an interactive novel^[2] released on October 20, 2009 on Xbox Live Indie Games^[3] parodying sci-fi through the ongoing travails of Philemon K. Bort (possible Captain of the U.S.S. Epiphany, one of the latest additions to the Universal Galactic Space Corps fleet).^[4] It has sold about 500-700 copies.^[5]

Molly the Were-Zompire

The interactive novel Molly the Were-Zompire was released on Xbox Live Indie Games on December 10, 2009.^[6] It's the story of Molly Desper, who is turned into a were-zombie-vampire^[7] It sold about 500-700 copies.^[5]

2D RPGs

Breath of Death VII: The Beginning

Co-created with William Stiernberg, Breath of Death VII: The Beginning was released on April 22, 2010, on Xbox Live Indie Games.^[8] A retro-style comedy RPG, Dem the Skeleton Knight, Sara the Ghost Historian, Lita the Vampire Techie, and Erik the Zombie Prince are customized via a branching ability tree.^[9] Robert felt that most turn-based RPGs were too slow, so Breath of Death VII battles employ a combo system based on player character choices with non-player characters receiving a strength bonus based on how many turns the fight has gone, giving the battles a pseudo time limit.^[10] Additionally, the number of encounters in an area are limited.^[11] With more than 40,000 sales, Breath of Death VII has a 2/3 conversion rate from the trial.^[10]

Despite its title, it is the only game of its "series", and the previous "six" do not exist. The title is simply a parody of serial RPGs whose sequels are often not in chronological order.

Cthulhu Saves the World

Co-created with Bill Stiernberg, Cthulhu Saves the World was released on December 30, 2010 on Xbox Live.^[12] Cthulhu, the squid-faced, winged god created by H. P. Lovecraft emerges from the sea after centuries of slumber only to find his dark powers immediately sealed away by a mysterious holy wizard. A narrator then informs the player that the only way to break the curse is to become a true hero. Quickly breaking the fourth wall, Cthulhu informs the narrator that he was eavesdropping and now knows how to break the curse.^[13] Like Breath of Death VII, Cthulhu Saves the World has a branching level-up system and caps random encounters in an area (there is an option where the player can choose from the menu to have additional encounters).^[14] The "Hey There, Cthulhu" music video was produced by Nakatomi HMC^[15] using the parody song written and recorded by Eben Brooks. All in-game music was composed and recorded by Gordon McNeil.^[16]

Zeboyd Games began a Kickstarter fundraiser towards development of an enhanced version of the game for PC and Xbox 360 platforms; it was more than successfully funded on February 16, 2011, garnering over twice the fundraiser's goal. The new version was officially announced on March 14, 2011, retitling the game as "Cthulhu Saves the World: Super Hyper Enhanced Championship Edition Alpha Diamond DX Plus Alpha FES HD - Premium Enhanced Game of the Year Collector's Edition (without Avatars!)". The PC version was released on July 13, 2011 together with Breath of Death VII on Valve's Steam service. The Steam version was a financial success, making more revenue in its first week of release than in a year and a half on the Xbox 360.^[17] By November 21, 2011, the "Zeboyd Games Combo Pack" (Cthulhu Saves the World & Breath of Death VII) had sold over 100,000 copies on Steam in less than four months after release.^[18]

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 3

Zeboyd Games developed Episode 3 of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness,^[1][19] which was released on June 25, 2012. Robert Boyd and Bill Stiernberg, along with Jerry Holkins and Jeff Kalles, hosted a panel at PAX East in Boston on April 6, 2012.^[20]

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 4

Zeboyd Games developed Episode 4, which was released on June 7, 2013.

Cosmic Star Heroine

Cosmic Star Heroine was inspired by the likes of Suikoden, Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star.^[21] The game takes place in the fictional Zevanii Star System, across three very different planets:

• Araenu, the most developed planet in the system. It is ruled by a group of corporations and is eternally night due to over-pollution.
• Rhomu, covered with wild ruins in an abandoned surface due to nuclear war and failed doomsday devices. The surface hides a cavernous underground metropolis that the residents prefer even with the radiation outside long gone.
• Nuluup, a mostly unkown jungle planet inhabitede by a strange alience race called the Ghast.

The adventure follows Alyssa L’Salle, one of the galactic government's top agents, who after discovering a dark conspiracy is outed as a spy must deal with all manner of fans and villains while trying to save the day.^[22] The game features 11 playable characters. There are no random battles; combat takes place on the field like in Chrono Trigger. Visible encounters do not respawn, a system for additional battle is present that is similar to the one featured in Cthulhu Saves the World. A unique charge system for abilities replaces traditional MP. There is also a base upgrading system similar to the one from the Suikoden series, where dozens of NPC's can be recruited to offer bonuses and some can even support your party in battle. The soundtrack was composed by Hyperduck SoundWorks.

On 25 June 2013, Zeboyd Games officially announced their new upcoming title, Cosmic Star Heroine. Formerly code-named CSH, Zeboyd plan to fund the game through Kickstarter sometime in September. The Kickstarter project began on October 1, 2013 and was successfully funded on October 31, 2013. The campaign raised $132,689, surpassing the $100,000 target the campaign had set. On October 27, 2015 it was announced the game would receive a physical edition for PS4 and Playstation Vita, courtesy of Limited Run Games.^[23] To promote the game it was featured at Playstation Experience 2015, where the PSVita version was also playable for the first time.^[24] The game was officially released for Microsoft Windows, Mac and PS4 on April 12, 2017, with a Playstation Vita release still scheduled for later in 2017. The game is cross-buy on Playstation 4/Vita systems. A Linux and XBOX One ports are in the works and a port to the Nintendo Switch port is currently being explored.^[25]

Cosmic Star Heroine received generally positive reviews. Metacritic gave the PS4 version 76/100 based on 8 reviews^[26] and the PC version 77/100 based on 8 reviews.^[27] Critics praised the combat system, retro graphics and the soundtrack but found the story rushed, the characters underdeveloped and the technical issues present frustrating.

Cosmic Star Heroine's battle system may be featured in a future game from Zeboyd Games in a Sky High meets Persona style game.^[32]

References

External links

• Official Zeboyd Games website
• Hey There Cthulhu: The Photomontage Video